


Show Me Your Moves

by JD_meister



Series: General Nefarious Shipping Week 2020 [4]
Category: Ratchet & Clank
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, I certainly do, Technically pre-game but only just, do you remember 'crushing on squishies?', original timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:29:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27253453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JD_meister/pseuds/JD_meister
Summary: It turns out Galactic Idol isn't interested in having a maniacal supervillain on its show. Who would have thought?
Relationships: Courtney Gears/Dr. Nefarious
Series: General Nefarious Shipping Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1977172
Comments: 5
Kudos: 9





	Show Me Your Moves

**Author's Note:**

> Day 5 of the Nefarious Shipping Week - Theme: Argument/Failure, specifically I'm riffing on failure.
> 
> After my long shot of a Lawrence fic, I wanted to do something a little shorter for my girl. 
> 
> Oh yes, it's the turn of the og girlfriend, Courtney Gears herself! I actually have another fic planned for these two, but it doesn't fit the theme so you're getting this instead.

It had been a long flight from Obani Draco to Daxx, and Courtney couldn't wait to get out and put some life back into her gears. Her driver had already signalled ahead to let the facility defence control know they were coming and to not shoot them down. Wouldn't _that_ be a headline for the press? Galactic pop star shot down over obscure, shady research facility; more news at eleven. 

There was a buzzing from within her handbag. She dug her phone out and checked. Several waiting messages from her manager, others from her back-up dancers, but the most recent was from Lawrence – Mr Right-Hand-Butler of her latest boyfriend Dr. Nefarious.

The message read: 

_Good afternoon ma'am,_

_Hoping you are well. I have been informed that you will be arriving shortly to Daxx. I have a small favour to ask of you after you touch down. I will be waiting in corridor 3-C._

_\- Lawrence_

He absolutely came from another time period altogether, she decided. Who signed texts off with their own name?

She texted back; _Yeah no probs, be there soon_

The limo descended through inky black darkness and into Daxx's pristine blue atmosphere and down further to the facility. A landing pad was already clear and waiting for them. Courtney left the driver to attend to her luggage and went in direction of the area Lawrence had mentioned. 

She arrived not long after to find Lawrence loitering outside one of the laboratory doors. “Ah, there you are, ma'am.”

“Looking for me?”

“Indeed. We have a slight issue today.” He gestured to the locked door. “The good doctor has locked himself in his lab, and is now refusing to see anyone.”

“I don't want to talk to anyone!” Came a muffled shout from the other side.

“He doesn't want to talk to anyone.” Lawrence continued, hardly batting an eye. “I am uncertain as to what has upset him now, but as his good lady friend, I thought that you perhaps...”

“Could get through to him?”

“Yes ma'am.”

Her driver would be sorting our her luggage on her behalf. She had time. “I'll see what I can do.”

Lawrence nodded and, producing a key card from some hidden pocket, swiped it through the door controls and unlocked it.

“Best of luck, ma'am.”

Courtney entered the lab to find Nefarious in the process of retrieving a heavy weapon and loading it up with ammunition. A bandolier was already strung across his chest and back. Clearly, he was in a mood for annihilation. 

“I said I didn't want to talk to anyone!” He snapped, not even bothering to turn around and look. He probably thought it was still Lawrence. How's that for a how do you do?

“Not even me?”

Now that got his attention. “Oh it's you! I thought you weren't supposed to be here until tomorrow?”

“I wanted it to be a surprise, but it seems I came just in time. Lawrence told me something was wrong. What's up?”

The heavy weapon was forgotten to the side. He paced angrily, his wings flaring. “What's up? WHAT'S UP?! Squishies are being a bunch of insufferable, dim-witted idiots, that's what's up!”

Courtney had already guessed that much. It could have been literally anything that sent him off into one of his spirals but it was always a safe bet that squishies were somehow involved. She set her handbag aside and perched herself on one of his work tables. Might as well get comfortable for this. “Why, what have they done now?”

“Stupid twits rejected my entry for Galactic Idol, that's what they did!”

Out of all the things he could have said, Courtney would readily admit she would never have guessed that. From the way he was acting, she had expected someone had taken over one of his other facilities or shot up a group of his troopers. She did her best to keep her surprise to herself.

“You tried for Galactic Idol?”

“Yeah! I always wanted too, and I thought 'Well, if I don't do it now, I'll never get around to it.', so I shot a tape and sent it over.” He gestured at a set of controls on the work top. “It's there if you want to see it.”

Oh, absolutely. Courtney would never have passed up such an opportunity even for all the gig deals in the world. She pressed the button and up came a holo of Nefarious, posing. Had he buffed his plating?

_“Youuu are myy robot lover~”_

Courtney recognised the song right away. _Crushin' on Squishies._ Yes, that _would_ be his kind of song. She kept watching. She couldn't deny – he was certainly... enthusiastic.

The clip cut out suddenly, right after some fascinating hip movements, and a new one began. An automated holo response from a (squishy) representative of Galactic Idol replaced him. 

“Good day, aspiring star! We at Galactic Idol are delighted to have received your audition for our illustrious show. Unfortunately, you have not been selected for the induction process, and therefore will not be appearing on our show. Please try again next season! Have a wonderful day!”

“Miserable morons don't know greatness when they see it.” Nefarious grumbled, strapping a blaster to his thigh.

He never did deal well with failure. Especially if it was his own.

“I didn't even know you auditioned for it.”

“I was going to tell you after I got in. You know, as a surprise, but then _some_ people decided I'm apparently not good enough to be on their show!”

“Try not to take it too personally. You know what squishies are like – they don't want to look bad because of robots on live holovision.” They had such fragile egos that wouldn't let them be shown up by their own creations. She suspected that was why she had yet to claim the title of Solana's Top Superstar.

She shoved that thought aside for now and put a hand on the holo controls. “Can I...?”

“Yeah sure, whatever.” He said, already turning away to resume digging around in his weapon stocks.

She took a second look at his audition tape. She _had_ to. It was strangely compelling in its own way. 

It had to be the way he moved. That, and his enthusiasm. That was about all that could be politely said about it. He knew the lyrics at least, which was more than could be said of some of the show's contestants. 

He wasn't bad, per se, he just wasn't exactly good either.

“Do you take constructive criticism, babe?”

He groaned, already expecting the worst. “Historically no, but I _suppose_ I could make an exception for you.”

“It's not all that bad, babe, don't worry. You have a good taste for songs but your singing could do with some work. I can help with that if you like. And you've got good moves.”

He perked up at that. “You think so?”

“I know so. I know a good dancer when I see one.” She hand picked all her own back-up dancers after all. One had to have an eye for talent if you wanted to really get anywhere in the music business.

He ditched the weapon he held, took her hand and pulled her close into a slow waltz. “I should hope so. I didn't take all those lessons just for fun.”

“You took dancing lessons?”

“Oh yeah. A dorm mate back in university, this was years ago, thought it would be funny to get me a coupon set for dance lessons for my birthday. Jokes on him, I'm great at it, and now I've got a partner to prove it!”

She tried to picture him in a dance hall. Him, with all his sharp edges and pointy limbs and _claws_ , taking the hand of some dainty hotbot or another and being shown how to move. It didn't quite gel with the Nefarious she knew, but it must have been true. His steps were smoother than his singing voice, and they were moving around the lab in such an easy sway it could have been second nature to him.

“Well, your moves are clearly not a problem. How about singing lessons?”

He laughed. “You really think I'm gonna let some rando in here and-”

“No, no, with me! Lessons with me, darling!” For a genius he was inexplicably dense sometimes.

His brows shot up with realisation. “Ohhh! I didn't know you taught.”

“I don't, but I _suppose_ I could make an exception for you.” She said, parroting him. He laughed again.

“Private lessons with the one and only Courtney Gears. Most men would kill for that.”

“Most men are idiots with the wrong idea about me.” 

Nefarious spun her about and pulled her in even closer than before, his arm completely around her waist and his face close to hers. “Well, it won't be long now before you can show them what's what.”

“You've got the Biobliterator up and running?”

“Almost. Soon.” He crooned. “Soon, you can show all those idiots who think of you the wrong exactly what they can expect, and I can finally put the galaxy to rights. That'll show those idiot Idol squishies...” 

“Forget about _them_ , babe. This time next year you'll be Supreme Ruler of the whole Solana galaxy and billions of robots. You can be Head Judge on Galactic Idol! We both could. We can both rule. Together. It's about time we got more robots in charge, and not just as the joke bid on holo-shows.”

“Now see _you_ understand. You know what I'm talking about.”

He spun her around one last time, and, instead of pulling her in again, stepped back, his hands trailing down her arms to hold her hands.

“We should do this more often.”

“Absolutely.”

There was another buzz from her phone. Reluctantly, she pulled away and checked. It was her driver with a problem. Her luggage had checked through security alright, but he hadn't. 

“I gotta go, babe, need to rescue my driver and-” She trailed of at the sight of him hefting the heavy weapon again. “Where are you going with that?”

“Out. Sorry, but once the Decimator comes out, someone just has to be annihilated! You know how it is. Want to come with?”

Boys and their toys, she thought fondly. “I'll pass, thanks. Funnily enough, I don't think a drive-by shooting is the best thing for my image right now.”

“Suit yourself.”

She caught him by the ammo band around his chest before he could pass and pulled him close. “How 'bout tonight, you keep that bandolier on and come find me, and you can tell me all about your little destruction spree? And then, after, I'll see if I can make you sing.” He was a smart man. He would catch her meaning.

Nefarious smiled. “It's a date.”

**Author's Note:**

> I think I spent a lot of my writing energy of my first three entries for this content challenge, that's why this one and the rest to come are a little bit late, but hey better late than never.
> 
> When I was little I used to get embarrassed watching the "You are my robot lover" scene in UYA, and would skip past it. Now I think it's the funniest thing and everyone should see it.


End file.
